I'm Going on Another Adventure!!

I am headed down south this time.. to Colombia, Costa Rica, and Belize! That's the tentative plan at least ...

And I'm excited! And soo nervous... All at the same time..

On the plane home:

I literally just woke up from sleeping and thought to myself, what the hell am I doing going home? 

There are soo many thoughts and emotions going through my head right now.. I'm really worried about reverse culture shock and all the changes that have taken place at home; friends moving away, going back to school, new girlfriends, boyfriends, different living situations, etc...

But I'm also worried about what is to come of me in the fall. I've just gone around the world, and I'll be damned if I come back and live in Brunswick for another year.  I need to save money though, and pay off my little debt from this wonderful trip.

So I could work in northeast Ohio, live at home a bit, then ideally find a flat with a friend.. in one of the cooler areas of Cleveland or Akron.

I've really been considering working at an international school in Europe, but understand that it may be too late to find one of those positions.

Or if I find no jobs anywhere, not all will be lost, because I'm totally up for going back to Asia and teaching some English.

I really would rather teach science though.

Wants always change, and I think I'll be happiest if I do what I want at the moment I want to. 

So many times we act and do things because it's what you think you're "supposed" to do.. Other people expect you to live your life a certain way, society expects you to live a certain way.  Don't get me wrong though, I think that those who go from high school to college to work to marriage to children to carrier and family can still be happy..  I just think that they may also miss out on some of the best learning experiences you could ever have.  Experiences that test your fear, your comfort zone, charade and language skills (Hah),.experiences that force you to truly depend on yourself, in turn causing you to learn about yourself, change what you don't like, and appreciate what you do. 

Travelling also allows you to be a more all around person, to be more loving and accepting of other people and cultures, and of yourself.

I truly believe in getting to know the world, and I truly plan to keep on doing it.

So, don't be surprised.

<3 M

A bittersweet ending: pros and cons of going home

Things I'm excited about:
Family and friends.
Proper, clean, toilets.
My comfy bed with hopefully no bugs. :) 
Getting my hair healthy again.
Opening my mouth in the shower.
A hair dryer.
Using water to brush my teeth.
Soft toilet paper.
Toilet paper in general lol.
Having a car again.
I'm excited to really start mountain biking, climbing, getting better at yoga and meditation, and just following through with things I say I want to do in general.
Seeing/petting dogs and knowing that more times than not, they have a home and don't have flees.
Learning a new language; German or Spanish.
Making money again.

Things I'm not too excited about:
Reverse culture shock.
American accents.
Missing travelling.
Being a workaholic (to pay off my travelling debt)= not much of a summer.
People being utterly obsessed with being on their phones.
Not having my own flat right away.
Interviews.
Pressures of society.
Pressures from other people.

Things I'm really going to miss:
Asians.
Geckos, and the sound geckos make, and that laugh thing too.
Tuk tuks.
Cheap prices.
Temples.
Monks.
Taking my shoes off at every entrance.
The language barrier, charades is fun!
Meeting new people everyday, and being instant bffs.
Motorbiking around beautiful scenery.
Banana trees, tropical jungles, mountains, & the terrain and fauna in general.
Kids screaming hello everytime you walk by or ride past them on a motorbike.
Cheap drinks; fruit shakes, bubble tea, and beer.
Foreign languages.
Feeling normal with no makeup on.
Accents.
Fresh made.. everything!
Foods without a shit ton of chemicals.
Adding a bracelet to my wrist every few weeks.
Learning different ways of saying: hello, goodbye, how are you, and cheers.

The #1 thing I'm worried about:
A job for the fall.. stay or go: local or international school? Out of state or in state? In the US or outside? English or science?  Or volunteer?

So many things are unknown, but like a travel mate said to me about a month or so ago, I'm excited to see where I end up in a few months..

Cheers

<3 M

#blogprobs

I really really need to catch up..

Back to Bali: Ubud, Indonesia

Well we booked a cheap place called Ubud Hideaway, naturally you'd think that was in Ubud..
NOT!

It was a pretty awesome place though.. it was our own mansion Villa!! I had my own room! Though, there were ants everywhere, the toilet had a messed up flush, and there were stains all over my mosquito net, BUT it did have a pool... Which we never used. And a free shuttle into town, which we did use, and they cooked us breakfast in the morning, which we definitely ate! But we decided to only stay for a night, and then move to a place more in the center of Ubud.

One good thing came of Ubud Hideaway though.. we met Anina! She's from Switzerland, and she was the only other person staying there other than us. So she came into town looking for another place to stay as well. When we started looking around, we found a bungalow for 4 right in the center of town. Sonne, a girl we met in SixDegrees Hostel in Jakarta, Anina, and I shared a room while Christina (friend from the Lounge in Samui) and Karim shared the other. Cody and Sammi found a cheaper one for themselves at a different place nearby. Unfortunately, none of them had a pool.. BUT they both had AMAZING free breakfast!

On our first day in Ubud, we walked all around the market and saw these really beautiful dresses, you can tie up to make shorter, and both Sammi and I LOVED THEM!! Cody asked, and we definitely will not get 2 for 50,000 rupiah! The one lady literally laughed in his face when he asked, and said 1 for 150 rupiah... But! We kept walking... I find that the trick is to go to a seller a bit far away and one that has a lot. We went well past where many tourists would walk, and we found a lady that we talked down from 100 each to 2 for 80,000 rupiah, which is equivalent to $4 per dress!! We were literally half way down the street walking away because she didn't agree to 2 for 80, when she finally called us back! She even grudgingly said we got a good deal after we payed. We felt soo accomplished!! We're awesome.

The next day, we rented motos and took them all over the surrounding area. Anina was driving the bike I was on, and she had an international license, but the other people I was with didn't... and apparently in Bali, they actually check! We headed to the volcano, and as we were driving, we look to our right, and there were tons and tons of beautiful green rice terraces!! It was a seriously beautiful surprise that we weren't expecting. We stopped to take photos and just enjoy the view for a bit, then we were on our way to the volcano. As we were driving, this guy came up next to us on his bike and may or may not have helped us get past the police where they make tourists pay money and check drivers licenses. He just took us a different way from the main road and we got there just fine!! Though.. in the back of our minds, we all thought, how is this guy going to eff us over?

Well, he never made us pay anything.. but he took us to many places. First was his "mother's restaurant," and we thought, oh that'll be a nice way to support him.. little did we know that his mother's restaurant was huge, crawling with tourists, and everything on the menu was insanely expensive.. so we didn't buy anything there.. it was packed. He then led us to a temple that was at the base of the volcano and mountain, and to see the lake down there.. that was nice. Then he took us to his "family garden." It could have been someone related to him.. but I don't think so. He let us try the fruit and a guy there let us sample all of the tea and coffee. Then they wanted us to buy some, but we didn't our little (what ended up being) guide for the day seemed a bit mad, I felt a little bad, but at one point Sonne said, he has to remember it's not always going to work.

As we were heading back, Karim didn't wait for us lol & went ahead, so Anina and I were on our own. It turned out to be one of my favorite moments though, but unfortunately after, it rained on us! Which is not fun when you're on a motorbike with no rain jacket or poncho. Luckily it was only a sprinkle, and it stopped rather quickly. But as we were driving we passed through a little town and decided to stop and get a Popsicle! #BestIdeaEver! As we were walking to the shop, there were these little boys who started talking to us! Just simple talk, but it kind of made our day. Also, as we were having a chat and screwing around with the kids, I looked over to the policeman/security guard, and he was just smiling ear to ear. :) It was really sweet. Then when we got to the shop, we paid local price! That was super exciting. lol. As we were leaving we said bye to the kids and left. It was simple, but it made us really happy. :) Then we were on our way back into Ubud, as we were driving there were these 2 girls on a motorbike, who drove up next to us, and we had a chat for a bit while driving. hah! Oh Asia.. I love you.

I can't forget to mention Monkey forest. There is this forest in Ubud that is just FILLED with monkeys!! We went there one day together, Anina, Karim, Sammi, Cody, Sonne, and me. It was really funny. there are adults, babies, grandma and grandpas... They say to not let the monkeys find out where you are putting food or drinks.. because they will find it... and they do... and they go through any means to get them. Unzipping your bag, grabbing it out of your hands... they are not afraid at all lol. These things will climb all over you! It's fun!! After, we went for a swim in Sonne's pool.

Speaking of pools.. Indonesia was really hot lol.. Cody, Sammi, and I may or may not have snuck into a different bungalow's pool. It was awesome. The workers saw us come in and didn't say anything so we just went with it!~ On the way back, it started storming.. maybe it was karma.

On our last night, we all ate at this cheap local place, that Sammi and Cody found, down an alleyway. It was by far the best place we had eaten in Bali.. AND the cheapest!! A great find.

Then it was goodbyes; back to Singapore, on my way to Cambodia to travel with Ally!

<3 M

Singapore try #2: lets give it another go

Getting to Singapore was much better this time around.. I arrived at the airport and got through customs with no problems and then I met with my friend Anson, who I was to stay with the next few days, under the Meeting Point sign. Very nice and easy, with no customs officer to talk to or extra fees to pay... Was a good day!

Now, if you've been following this blog, you might remember Anson from my post about Berlin. He is the one who got me the Cirque du Soleil tickets for me for my birthday! And he is on his break before they go to Brazil, and back home in Singapore. So we were able to meet up and I'm staying with him and his family! :) Couchsurfing is soo great, how it creates such awesome new friendships..

So basically, my 2nd time in Singapore has been full of AMAZING food, weather, and friends! I tried soo many new things! I WISH I remembered the names of everything!!

Anson took me all around and introduced me to many of his friends. We went to Chinatown, local food courts (which they call coffee shops), a temple, many malls, an Indian food place where I tried Teh Tarik and drank a mango shake out of a plastic bag, we walked down the really rich street full of expensive malls and shops, had dinner at a Japanese restaurant, then went to martini night (2 for 1), then to a Chinese club, by accident, with a band, and finally ended up at a local Thai club (yes in Singapore) with many many different singers singing pop and boy band songs.. they love that shit out here!

The next day I got bubble tea and then we went to Bugis Street Shops (which was amazing and cheap and I want to go back with money so I can get a new wardrobe), then we went to Sim Lim Square, which is this HUGE building with about 7-10 floors of electronics, I also tried this waffle ice cream thing that was pretty good, we also visited Little India, and then later that night we went out to eat for crab (DELICIOUS Crab) with his friends, then to this AMAZING ice cream place. That night we went to a couchsurfing meeting!  It was really great, AND (the main reason I wanted to go) Sammi and Cody were there!!  So I got to see them again.  :)

Then it was a day full of Sentosa island, which is basically an island of amusement parks and fun. We rode Luges, a sky ride (which is basically a ski lift lol), watched some people surf on fake waves, saw an amazing sunset on the water, and went back via a gondola over the water and some of the city. That night, we went to the biggest most crowded club I've ever seen.. Zouk. It was soo great!!  I was the only Westerner there and for 3 hours we couldn't get in because it was at full capacity.

Then it was time for goodbye, I had such an awesome time with Anson, and staying with his family.

Thanks soo much love.

He went with me to the airport, which was really sweet, but we went quite a bit early.. I wasn't sure why, bit he said there were a lot of things to do there.

THE SINGAPORE AIRPORT IS INSANELY AMAZING!

This place is like an amusement park in itself..
Wi-Fi everywhere.
Pool.
Gardens.. inside!
Movie theater.
A mall.
Massage chairs - for FREE!
Has places for kids to color.
Butterfly garden.
Free Xbox games.
Free tours.

And I found out later that it was voted best airport in the world last year! 3 terminals of awesome.

If you ever have a layover at the Singapore Airport.. make it a long one!

<3 M

Now it's off to Siem Reap, Cambodia, to meet up and travel with Ally for the next month or so!

Mueng Ngoi Neua: After the boat

This place is soo secluded, they just got power 10 days ago! So there wasn't much use in asking about the Wi-Fi..

3 days without internet.. I'm not going to lie, I loved it!  How freeing.  :)

I came here with people from the bus, by boat, the American couple (Mara and Rory), the Greek uk guy (Agi), and the Swiss I've been with since Sapa (Nicholas)!

Plan: To stay here one night.
What really happened: We stayed 4.

First day goal: To hike through caves.
What really happened: Breakfast and played cards for 4 hours and swam.
-But we did make a new friend, Anne, Thanks to Agi.
Learned: While travelling, you really need days where you do nothing.

Second day goal: to hike through caves and a local village. 
What really happened: hiked through caves, met some locals who led us to the local village, adopted a dog, named him Pluto, and swam.
Learned: Dark caves are not as fun when your torch is your cell phone flashlight.

Third day goal: Chill and blog.
What really happened: Fell asleep on hammock while blogging, hammock fell out of the ceiling & broke beneath me, finished a blog, and swam.
Learned: If you hear the hammock make noises from where it's connected to the ceiling, it will fall.

Fourth day goal: 9:30 boat to Nong Khiaw & message my worried mum upon arrival that I'm still alive.
What really happened: 9:30 boat to Nong Khiaw & messaged my worried mum upon arrival that I'm still alive.
Learned: Relaxation is wonderful.  So are hammocks.

In Mueng Ngoi Neua, we met a Swedish guy, Gabe, who met a local, married her, and now lives in the village with her, her family, and their 2 children.  They have a breakfast and dinner buffet that we went to every morning and 2 nights. They also make the best shakes ever!! Pluto, the dog that continuously followed us around, ended up being Gabe's! And his name: Pac.  But we still called him Pluto when Gabe wasn't around.  I think for the 3 days we were there he was with us most the time.. miss him.

<3

Fast boat tomorrow to the next village and then Luang Prabang!